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Many years ago, Dr. Yehuda Leib Schupak visited Yeshivat Shuvu Banim in Jerusalem and left there in great wonderment
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The reason he wrote afterwards in a letter his special appreciation for our Rebbe Rav Eliezer Berland shlit”a along with a donation to the Yeshiva
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With the strength of emuna (faith), self-sacrifice, and love for one’s fellow, it’s possible to overcome the impossible.
To remove the precious from the cheap
Over fifty years ago, Rav Berland was devoting his entirety to the exalted goal of the teshuva [return to Judaism] revolution. Rav Berland, an alumnus of Yeshivat Kfar Hasidim and, afterwards, a kollel student at Kollel Volozhin in Bnei Brak, revealed the light of Breslov, and it was a matter of only a few years before the Breslov path in drawing close and strengthening those distant [from Torah and mitzvot] brought him out onto the lengthy path of the teshuva revolution which he began more than fifty years ago. Tens of thousands of Torah and mitzvah observant Jews throughout Israel and the diaspora are the sweet fruit of this great revolution.
One of the great wonders was the tremendous success and influence of Rav Berland on ba’aley teshuva [returnees to Judaism], especially those who drew close in the first years of the teshuva revolution, when he was found with them all day and would imbue them with his light, [turning them] over the years into incredible servants of Hashem and teachers of Torah to the masses.
There are no evildoers amongst the Jewish people!!!
The great shout “there are no evildoers amongst the Jewish people” which Rav Berland shouted with a roar from his pure heart at the gathering at Yad Eliyahu on the eve of Chag Shavuot 5760 (2000 C.E.), [an event held] under the leadership of the Sephardic Chief Rabbi Maran Rav Ovadia Yosef, signifies more than anything his way in drawing close those who are far, and his loving view of every Jew as he is. And so it was with such a unique outlook and with his unique path that he succeeded in bringing about a turnabout in the most distant hearts. Rav Berland didn’t despair of any Jew as he was – also those who were addicted to forbidden substances in the worst way. These also tried to be rehabilitated and for this purpose went to doctors and specialists, who gave up hope and didn’t give them any chance…Until they reached “Shuvu Banim,” where Rav Berland, the lover of the Jewish people, succeeded in rehabilitating them from the forbidden and dangerous substances, brought them up to the way of the King, and helped them afterwards to build faithful homes in Israel.
Dr. Yehuda Leib Schupak chanced upon this great wonder when he paid a visit to Yeshivat Shuvu Banim and found patients who had been addicted to drugs, whom he had despaired of their futures, and suddenly found them in a form which he expressed as being “born anew.” His great wonderment brought him to send a special letter to our Rebbe Rav Berland, and we are now revealing here its content:
A letter of appreciation and wonderment
To Rav Eliezer Berland
“Shuvu Banim”
Jerusalem
I hereby turn to you with this letter in order to express deep wonderment and impression from my visit to your institution this week. I personally treated over a long period three men who suffered from a heavy addition to drugs, and from all the side effects of addition of this sort. Different institutions which treated these men said they had despaired of the possibility of rehabilitating them, and even I didn’t ascribe great hope regarding their future.
To my great amazement, I met these men this week during my visit with you and now understand that these men were born anew, and are thus learning, functioning, and working in a manner which arouses wonderment. Two of them even were married and built families.
Over the course of 25 years of my working and specializing in this subject in France and in Israel, I never encountered a phenomenon of this sort, which proves that through the power of emuna, self-sacrifice, and love of one’s fellow, it’s possible to overcome also the impossible.
I hereby wish you great success in the future of your blessed work.
With great respect,
Dr. Aryeh Leib Schupak
P.S. Likewise, I hereby add a modest personal donation of 2,000 shekel. Please confirm its receipt.
